If there is ever a Gasol trade, and I hope there is not, it will be one with a third team. MIN simply doesn't have the negative value on the team to equate to the amount that Pau is overpaid, at $40 mil through 2014. What would Gasol get in free agency at this point? I can't imagine he'd get more than $11 per year, from some desperate team - meaning he needs $9 mil per year in valueless stuff back. Or more precisely, the package shouldn't be

Let's start with a package from the poll I mentioned in the poll that everyone hated:

.. but a third team will be involved, that will turn one of our assets into a negative (probably overpaid vet) and a positive (like a pick). LAL gets the overpaid vet (no more than two years), and we get the positive perk to trade later. That third team may be one that wants to get young(and likes Derrick Williams), needs a solution at back-up PG (several), or needs to clear some cap space, and can use the expiring more than lux-strained LAL (turning a two-year deal into an expiring).

A good place to start is to look for other teams' vets with two-year deals that are a little overpaid. If they could fit better with Dantoni, that'd be a big help. I'm sure LAL would love Kirilenko in a deal, but he's too valuable here, and well worth the $10 mil we pay him.

Grits n Gravy wrote:i don't...goodbye pek and bud. and i want to hold on to dw and see whast he can become.

This is the point that I think Laker fans ignore. Because Roy needs to be in the deal to come closer to trade value, most packages not only costs what we'd give up, but may cost us Pek and Buddinger next year too.

We have to hope that in a Pau trade, Taylor is willing to pay the lux in 2013-14. I'm not saying that's impossible, but if players are going to cost us double (with far less revenues than LA), that means we're giving up even more.

i don't...goodbye pek and bud. and i want to hold on to dw and see whast he can become.

For what we give up here, Pau adds an elite 3rd big and is great insurance (aka Pekasaurus). A 3-man rotation will really add longevity for our bigs - they all have different skill sets and Pau for 15-20 a night would be a nice fit. My concern is that while this would be an offensive luxury, it does not help on the defensive side.

lastly, I like this deal, but clearly we cannot allow it to consume our ability to get a 3-pt shooter to go along with Bud (when healthy).

Flip response to Love wanting out, "He has no reason to be upset, you're either a part of the problem or a part of the solution"

Grits n Gravy wrote:i don't...goodbye pek and bud. and i want to hold on to dw and see whast he can become.

This is the point that I think Laker fans ignore. Because Roy needs to be in the deal to come closer to trade value, most packages not only costs what we'd give up, but may cost us Pek and Buddinger next year too.

We have to hope that in a Pau trade, Taylor is willing to pay the lux in 2013-14. I'm not saying that's impossible, but if players are going to cost us double (with far less revenues than LA), that means we're giving up even more.

Short-term (this year and next year) is a non-issue, but if we are talking longer, then it's a different story and could cause problems.

Flip response to Love wanting out, "He has no reason to be upset, you're either a part of the problem or a part of the solution"

OK, let me give it a try: I'm looking for guys that fit most of these characteristics:

1. Are making around $12 mil, but producing about $8 mil?2. Contract is 2 years3. That are on teams that would like to move them - probably rebuilding4. Would fit with Lakers in a Dantoni system (you tell me which guys wouldn't fit)

LAL moves Gasol's over-priced deal for two, lesser over-priced deals, including a big man replacement. Ridnour for Blake really helps their big need at PG. All three deals are only two years, so they can go under the lux.

WAS rebuilds by getting out from Okafor and Ariza's deals using Crawford and Vesely to do it -- avoiding their three most important young assets (Wall, Beal and their pick). Derrick Williams is a nice prize for them, and Roy, Amundsen and Steimsma (partial guarantee) create cap space. Have to eat Blake for $4 mil though, but he will get minutes.

MIN gets some compensation for taking on the overpaid contract of Pau Gasol. Williams would have less fit with Gasol here, and maybe Vesely can catch on. J Crawford is a huge fit, and would probably start right away.

Take out Cunningham and Vesely from that trade, and I'd do it. Cunningham provides us with insurance from a Pau Gasol injury, while he can provide back-up at SF aswell. He offers nothing to a rebuilding Wizards team where Vesely still has some upside.

Maefteda wrote:Take out Cunningham and Vesely from that trade, and I'd do it. Cunningham provides us with insurance from a Pau Gasol injury, while he can provide back-up at SF aswell. He offers nothing to a rebuilding Wizards team where Vesely still has some upside.

Good eye. There are two things I don't like about the trade .. MIN losing Cunningham, and WAS taking on Blake's two-year deal.

I tried to work on keeping Cunningham out, but keeping Vesely in for value purposes. Unfortunately, Amundsen and Malcolm Lee combined miss by about $0.3 mil. Let me give it a try as simultaneous trades. The fact that the pieces go over $20 mil changes the math.

Do the rest of you feel that Dante has more value here than Vesely? Veseley's been kind of a bust so far.

Wolfson said in his "Scoops" today that Lakers have asked about Dante. This makes me think that Derrick is off-limits for now, which makes a lot of you happy. It also makes sense that the Lakers would be more interested in Dante than Derrick.

Which brings me to this...I know people are hesitant to deal Pek/Derrick package for Pau. Would a Pek/Dante package be better?

tsherkin wrote:The important thing to take away here is that Klomp is wrong.

Esohny wrote:Why are you asking Klomp? "He's" actually a bot that posts random blurbs from a database.

Wolfson said in his "Scoops" today that Lakers have asked about Dante. This makes me think that Derrick is off-limits for now, which makes a lot of you happy. It also makes sense that the Lakers would be more interested in Dante than Derrick.

Which brings me to this...I know people are hesitant to deal Pek/Derrick package for Pau. Would a Pek/Dante package be better?

Is one stab wound better than two?

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt

Wolfson said in his "Scoops" today that Lakers have asked about Dante. This makes me think that Derrick is off-limits for now, which makes a lot of you happy. It also makes sense that the Lakers would be more interested in Dante than Derrick.

Which brings me to this...I know people are hesitant to deal Pek/Derrick package for Pau. Would a Pek/Dante package be better?